Allardyce wary of Istanbul trip as Boro face Van Gaal

Sam Allardyce admits Bolton face a daunting start to the Uefa Cup group stage after being drawn yesterday to travel for their first game to Turkey to confront Besiktas on October 20. Bolton also face an away trip to the Portuguese club Vitoria Guimaraes while Sevilla and Zenit St Petersburg will visit the Reebok Stadium.

Allardyce sees the Besiktas game as his side's biggest challenge in Group H and said: "Playing in Istanbul is always very tricky. It will be a tough match for us and many English clubs have found it difficult in Turkey in the past."

For all that, Besiktas have made a poor start to the Turkish season with three defeats in eight games leaving them 11 points adrift of the leaders Galatasaray. Bolton will be reacquainted with the Brazilian midfielder Kleberson, who moved from Manchester United to the Istanbul club in August, but it is his fellow countryman, the free-scoring Ailton, that Bolton must beware.

Bolton have avoided a potentially tricky winter trip to St Petersburg but Allardyce admits his players still face a tough task in clinching a top-three place to reach the knock-out stages.

He said: "We are pleased to be playing St Petersburg at home but they are currently fourth in the Russian League and look well organised from the reports I've seen. The fans will relish playing Sevilla at the Reebok and that should be a night to remember for everyone connected to the club." The fans should also enjoy the trip to Portugal, he believes. "Guimaraes should be warm and they play at one of the best stadiums in Portugal."

Middlesbrough, who reached the last 16 last season before going out to the losing finalists Sporting Lisbon, face difficult trips to Grasshoppers Zurich and Holland's AZ Alkmaar, with Dnipro (Ukraine) and Liteks Lovech (Bulgaria) visiting the Riverside Stadium in Group D.

Boro start in Switzerland but their third game, the meeting with last season's semi-finalists Alkmaar, now in the charge of the former Ajax, Barcelona and Holland coach Louis van Gaal, is clearly the toughest. "They are an attack-minded team, are top of the Dutch League and going great," said Steve McClaren. "They have got a talented manager and some very good players."

Dnipro's qualifying 5-1 defeat of Hibernian in Ukraine last Thursday will not have got unnoticed on Teesside, even if they and the little-known Bulgarians of Lovech will not draw big crowds to the Riverside.

Van Gaal identified Dnipro, rather than Boro, as his club's biggest worry. "It is very difficult to play against such a defensive side and win with a difference of two goals. We will storm their goal from the first minute and hope that will bring us a swift goal." Marcel Brands, an Alkmaar director, also played down the threat of McClaren's team: "There are two teams we wanted: Middlesbrough and Grasshoppers," he said. "The Ukraine and Bulgaria teams we would rather not have had."